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There’s no doubt crab is having its moment. Stealing the limelight away from its more luxurious cousin lobster, the once underrated crustacean is experiencing a renaissance as chefs grow more inspired by it, pop-ups centre their offerings around it, and soft-shell crab burgers fast become everyone’s new favourite order. What was once just sprinkled onto your scrambled eggs at white-cloth breakfast tables, or scattered around a salad starter, is now holding its own on menus and filling brioche buns with gusto.

Just look at House of Crab, a pop-up in Mayfair by James Chase (of Chase distillery) and Dominic Jacobs (of The Running Horse bar), which is open until the end of January 2016, riding and fueling the crustacean wave. As the name suggests, the menu is predominately crab, all from Salcombe, including four different versions of a crab brioche roll, such as The Crabfather (Salcombe brown and white crab meat, confit tomato, burrata cream and pancetta), and Singaclaw (Salcombe brown and white crab meat, hot sauce, chilli, coriander and sour cream). And it's affordable, too; £30 will get you 2 rolls, fries, crab mac ‘n’ cheese, slaw, and a pot of bisque.

A sophisticated take on 'Crab on toast'

Across the city, Crab Tavern is another restaurant putting crab at the centre of one of London’s newest foodie hubs, Broadgate Circle. Though its menu features more than just crab — black pepper squid, mussels, steak and chips, toasties, the lot — it’s the namesake ingredient that dominates the menu, starring in the likes of dressed crab caesar salad, crab thermidor and crab and waffles. Simon Wright, managing partner, says, "As the popularity of crab has increased, restaurants have been able to become a lot more inventive with the meat. Our head chef has created some fantastic, creative dishes, from Goan crab and cod curry, to crab churros - the latter are in fact proving to be one of our best sellers."

Crab meat is sweet and flavoursome, affordable and plentiful, which makes us wonder why it’s taken until now to really catch on. “The crab has grown in popularity in the past few years; we have seen its sales increase to match the ever popular lobster,” says James Cornwall of seafood restaurant J Sheekey. “At Sheekey, we love using large Devon cock crabs. The sweet white meat is very versatile – in the spring, it is delicious in a salad with broad beans, chilli and lemon; through the summer, we make a heritage tomato salad with tempura courgette flowers and crab. A favourite of mine is to use the often forgotten about brown meat from the head and bake it with sherry and garlic and serve with toasted sourdough.”

Crab is a great alternative for those of us who want to cut down on red meat

Crab has found a place in the burger world too. Satisfying pescatarians and carnivores alike, soft-shell crab burgers are light, sweet and flavoursome, and ideal for a generation that’s questioning how much red meat we should really be eating. CLAW, London’s crab burger specialist, has just kicked off its winter residency at The Three Compasses in Dalston, which it will running through to January. Using only traceable and sustainable fresh crab from Start Bay in Devon and sustainably caught shellfish, CLAW's burgers include the Kimchi Crab Burger (Devonshire crab, iceberg lettuce, kimchi and Sriracha remoulade in brioche), the Samphire Burger (Devonshire crab, iceberg lettuce, samphire, claw sauce, brioche), and the Octopus Burger (barbecue octopus, pickled cucumber, smoky BBQ sauce and coriander in brioche).

There’s also crab mac and cheese, and crab and mozzarella arancini, plus a weekend brunch menu where the star of the show is the Crab Grilled Cheese: Devonshire crab, cheese, chili, coriander and Bloody Mary Sauce.

At Crab Tavern, I’m told that the soft-shell crab burger is the most popular order. I try it and it doesn’t surprise me one bit. It’s delicious; a whole, giant crab comes in a soft brioche bun, with a swipe of sweet red pepper jelly and a big old portion of Old Bay spiced fries on the side. Elsewhere, Bobo Social does a great version; its lobster and crab burger comes with dill caper cream and wasabi fried onions.

As more chefs fall for crab, people talk. Take Chiltern Firehouse. What’s the one dish we all know? The crab doughnuts. I know they’re the favourite and I haven’t even eaten there. Last week I ate at Wazen, a new Japanese restaurant in Kings Cross. Its menu being predominantly sushi and sashimi, and has the some of the freshest tuna I’ve tried, but social media advised, “You’ve got to try the crab roll.” And delicious it was too. Just the week before, I tried Pimlico’s new hotspot, Cambridge Street Cafe. The menu has all your usual favourites, from pork belly to lamb shanks, but it’s the soft-shell crab in brioche that I’m recommended.

Crab has earned its spot in the burger industry

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that until recently, I’d skim over the crab option on any menu, favouring lobster or a full fillet of fish, but it’s apparent that doing that now can mean really missing out.

Lobster lovers and burger buffs, it’s time to change tack. The good news is, you’ll save pennies in the process.